Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I really like this article on The BC Catholic. It is about the problem of addiction to computer and to pornography. I recommended my high school students to read this article. Citing the good examples of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, I told them that chastity and discipline are inseparable.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Last Saturday (March 27) I preached a half day retreat at my former parish: Corpus Christi. This retreat was mainly for MC co-workers (Mother Teresa). There was also exposition of relics. I explained veneration of relics, and I talked about prayer, penance, and works of mercy using the lives and teachings of the saints.

Our sins hurt Jesus more than scourging

Last week we contemplated the First Sorrowful Mystery in this column. This week, the Second Sorrowful Mystery, the Scourging at the Pillar.

One night St. Faustina saw a vision regarding this mystery. She wrote, “I saw four men who took it in turns at striking the Lord with scourges. My heart almost stopped at the sight of these tortures. The Lord said to me, ‘I suffer even greater pain than that which you see,’ and Jesus gave me to know for what sins He subjected Himself to the scourging: these are sins of impurity.”

Overcoming impurity

Blessed Jacinta of Fatima said, “More souls go to hell because of the sins of the flesh than for any other reason.” No doubt sins of the flesh are too common in our society today. A priest who wrote a booklet on overcoming sins of the flesh some years ago proposed five important steps:

There must be a strong, persevering desire to overcome the sin. This desire can be fostered by meditating on the seriousness of one mortal sin and on the eternity of heaven and hell.

All unnecessary occasions of sin (e.g. deliberate daydreams, obscene books or websites) must be given up.

Wrong attitudes toward life (e.g. self-pity, habits of sloth) and toward others (e.g. envy, feelings of social inferiority) must be carefully analyzed and corrected.

A positive program of spiritual activities must be undertaken. Frequent confession, frequent reception of Holy Communion, and personal devotion to Our Lady are powerful means to foster chastity.

Use natural means (e.g. physical exercises, mental or artistic hobbies, reasonable social activity) as auxiliaries to the indispensable spiritual means.

A precious virtue

Father Adolphe Tanquerey wrote, “Chastity is rightly called the angelic virtue, because it likens us to the angels, who are pure by nature. It is an austere virtue, because we do not succeed in practising it unless we subdue the body and the senses by mortification.

“It is a frail virtue, tarnished by the least wilful failing. On this account it is a difficult virtue, since it cannot be observed except by a generous and constant struggle against the most tyrannical of passions.”

Chastity is a frail and delicate virtue that cannot be preserved unless it be protected by other virtues. According to Father Tanquerey, these other virtues are:

“Humility, which produces self-distrust and prompts to flight from dangerous occasions.

“Mortification, which by waging war against the love of pleasure, reaches the evil at its roots.

“Devotion to the duties of state, which protects one from the perils created by idleness.

“Love for God, which, by filling the heart, prevents it from giving itself over to dangerous affections.”

St. Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591) is a model of chastity. St. Robert Bellarmine, his confessor, was of the opinion that this young saint never committed a mortal sin in his life.

St. Aloysius combined prayer with mortification. He would meditate for an hour each day and would get up at midnight to pray on the stone floor. He fasted three days a week on bread and water.

He exercised custody of eyes: it was said that he never looked any woman in the face. After he had served the empress as a page for two years, a report was spread that she was coming into Italy, where he happened to be, and some congratulated him on the prospect of seeing his mistress again. He replied: “I shall not recognize her except by her voice, for I do not know her face.”

Some practices of the saints are more for our admiration than imitation, but we are all called to imitate their virtues. Let us imitate the virtues of prayer and mortification of St. Aloysius so as to be like him in purity of heart.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Very blessed today to receive a beautiful large reliquary with the bone relic of St. Marguerite d’Vouville. She is a saint of my country, Canada. The date of the document for the relic is 1960. This relic will be included at the upcoming expositions of sacred relics during retreats and talks.

Another very unique relic. It’s the first time I see bone relic inside a relic card.

Monday, March 8, 2010

This Lenten Season (and also during Easter), I am giving talks & retreats almost once a week. The themes of my talks have to do with saints and blessed. One main theme is to perform prayer, penance, and works of mercy with the saints. The first retreat was given last Saturday in Coquitlam @ the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (in Chinese). The sacred relics were grouped according to the Mysteries of the Rosary (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, & Glorious). During the retreat, the participants prayed before the relics, took photos, touched relics with devotional objects, and wrote prayer petitions to the saint & blessed.

Biography of saint & list of relics:

My favorite relics @ the exposition:

Hair of Venerable Gabriel Allegra, a holy priest from my homeland-- Hong Kong. He died in January 26, 1976.

My friend gave this relic to me. It was given to her in 1977. My friend at that time would see ghosts (evil spirits) often, and after receiving this relic, she prayed to Venerable Gabriel Allegra for about a month, and after that she never saw ghosts again. I hope this story can help to encourage you to trust in the power of intercessions of the saints.

Venerable Gabriel Allegra translated the Bible into Chinese. He was also the exorcist in Hong Kong.

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Our Lady of the Clergy, Pray for Us!

O Priest! thou art not thyself, because thou art God; thou art not of thyself, because thou art the servant and minister of Christ; thou art not thine own, because thou art the spouse of the Church; thou art not for thyself, because thou art the mediator between God and man; thou art not from thyself, because thou art nothing. What then art thou, O Priest? Nothing and everything. O Priest! take care lest what was said to Christ on the Cross be said to thee: He saved others, himself he cannot save. -St. Norbert